Town of Chriesman

The railroad moved Yellow Prairie, then kept the old name for itself. When the Santa Fe built through in 1880 the settlers moved to the tracks, and the post office took the name Chriesman in 1885, yet the station was still called Yellow Prairie early in the twentieth century. A cucumber salting station opened in 1904, run by a San Antonio firm. During Reconstruction, citizens of Yellow Prairie captured a gang and lynched five of its members; the Handbook of Texas gives no names.

What the plaque says

Town of Chriesman (Originally "Yellow Prairie" 0.5 mi. E) Settled by Alexander Thomson, Jr., early Texas patriot and partner of the colonizer Sterling C. Robertson. When railroad came through in 1880, the settlers moved to tracks. Renamed, 1884, after Capt. H.C. Chriesman, surveyor for Stephen F. Austin. Now serves surrounding ranches. (1968)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Milam County Courthouse and Jail — 21 mi
  Cameron's 1892 Renaissance Revival courthouse and the 1895 St. Louis-built jail beside it, now the county museum, are listed together on the National Register.
• Lake Somerville State Park and Trailway — 23 mi
  Two park units on an 11,000-acre lake between Austin and College Station, joined by a thirteen-mile trailway for hikers, cyclists and riders with primitive camps along the way.
• George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum — 25 mi
  The library of the forty-first president on the Texas A&M campus, opened in 1997, where George and Barbara Bush and their daughter Robin are buried in a family plot on the grounds.
• Independence and Old Baylor Park — 31 mi
  A crossroads north of Brenham that was the richest town in Texas when it won Baylor University in 1845, refused the railroad, and lost the college to Waco and Belton in 1886.

More markers nearby

• Alexander Thomson, Jr. — steps away
• Horatio Chriesman — 0.6 mi
• St. Matthew Missionary Baptist Church — 5.8 mi
• Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church — 6.5 mi